Jeanette J. Lim is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Planning in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. In this capacity she provides the Assistant Secretary of OESE with fiscal and program planning, management and administration to further the mission of OESE. That mission is to ensure that every child in the U.S. is provided the opportunity for a quality education as set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Ms. Lim works with OESE Program Directors to implement grant and contract programs amounting to billions of dollars that provide academic and supportive services to improve elementary and secondary education for students throughout the Nation.

Ms. Lim is an attorney with over 20 years experience in civil rights in education in race, sex, disability and age discrimination. Throughout her career in civil rights she has worked to provide disadvantaged and at-risk children opportunities to improve their lives through education. She has held numerous executive leadership positions in the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, including Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in 1992-1993 and again in 2000-2001.

Ms. Lim has litigated desegregation cases in K-12 and postsecondary education; gender discrimination cases including sexual harassment; and higher education admission cases. She represented the United States in obtaining admission of women to the University of the Citadel of South Carolina. Ms. Lim was Special Assistant to the President of West Chester State University of Pennsylvania from 1976-1979. She has taught chemistry and math at the college and high school levels. As a medical geneticist Ms. Lim has experience as a researcher and bench scientist.

Ms. Lim is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and has first-hand family experience with how educational attainment can provide an avenue for improving ones future. She has a law degree, Juris Doctor from Temple University Law School (Philadelphia); a Masters Degree in Medical Genetics from the University of Wisconsin Medical School (Madison) and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).